Page 3 of Burning Escape (Chasing Fire: Alaska #3)

They walked toward the saloon, a faster pace than they’d set on the way out.

At one point, their hands brushed, and their fingers tangled up together.

She didn’t pull away. His slow smile, that slight blush, was still visible under the streetlights, and the glow of the almost full moon sent a thrill through her.

Sheesh. She was like a teenager all over again. If only she’d waited back then for a man like Orion.

They reached the edge of the parking lot at the Midnight Sun Saloon, the band music still going strong though the parking lot wasn’t as full as earlier. They stopped by the road sign.

“I had a really nice night, Victoria.” He still held her hand. “Would you—” He glanced down a second and then back to her eyes, a question there she didn’t want to answer the way she needed to.

So she kissed him.

A sweet, simple kiss, lightly pressing her lips to his. But it heated her clear down to her toes.

Her smartwatch buzzed, killing the moment. Midnight.

She pulled back, untangled herself from him. “This was…amazing, but I’m sorry. I have to go.” Her night of freedom was over.

“Can I see you again?”

Oh, this was harder than she’d thought. She swallowed down a thickness in her throat. “I’m sorry, Orion, but that won’t work. I only had tonight. I have to leave, and I’ll be gone for quite a while.”

“I’m a patient guy.”

Of course he was. “No, Orion.” Why were her eyes stinging? She’d just met him. And yes, he was gentlemanly and kind, but she couldn’t afford any distractions.

And let’s be honest, when it came to men, she had horrible luck.

“I’m leaving. I’ve got…important work to do.”

“I get that, but what does that have to do with?—”

“Let’s just end on a good note, huh?” She grazed her fingers along his jaw and planted one last kiss on his cheek. Looking down, she caught the glint of something on his neck. A cross.

Well, that was a deal breaker right there. Good thing she was already leaving.

She turned and walked away. Didn’t turn back. Didn’t look.

A part of her wanted to, but there were more important things in life. Tomorrow, she would be fighting for one of the smokejumper spots, and she couldn’t let anything get in her way.

Eventually, she heard Orion’s footsteps in the gravel, heading away. He wasn’t following her.

Good. That was what she wanted.

She reached her little Honda Civic sitting on the other side of the lot. The parking lot light overhead glinted off a spiderweb of cracks on the windshield.

Tori whipped around, scanning the area for anyone lurking in the shadows. Who had done this?

A small piece of paper fluttered under her wiper blade.

You can’t escape this time.

* * *

Orion rushed down the stairs to the lobby, too late and impatient to wait for the elevator. Today was the first step to living out his dream and doing what he was born to do.

“Dude, come on!” Logan shoved a hotel coffee into Orion’s hand. “Don’t wanna be late for your first day of training.”

Right. Orion tried to shake off the memory of the mysterious and captivating Victoria from last night. A memory that tangled up in his head way more than he liked.

“You okay? You look awful.” Logan glanced over from behind the wheel of his car.

He wasn’t thrilled to have Logan following him to the Midnight Sun crew, but the guy had his own reasons for coming up here, and maybe it wouldn’t be horrible to have a friend around. As long as Orion was seen as his own person.

“I’m fine. Didn’t sleep great.”

“Nervous?”

Sure, let Logan think that was it. “Maybe.”

“You got back pretty late last night, but you’re a good firefighter, Price. You’ve got this.”

“Thanks.”

Orion sipped his coffee. Ugh. Lukewarm.

So different from Victoria. She was fire and heat. And boy, had he been burned all right.

What was his problem anyway? It had been one dance. One kiss.

But it had hooked him like an expert fisherman catching a king salmon, snagging on his heart and pulling relentlessly. No other woman had done that before.

But what did it say that she’d felt no qualms about kissing him and leaving? Obviously the moment hadn’t unraveled her as it had him. Maybe her job really was important. Or he’d simply been a distraction for her.

Whatever.

He needed his head on straight. This was his time to show everyone that he had what it took. He’d left his home, his family, everything he knew in Ember for this. He was ready to step into his legacy. And maybe redeem himself, at least a little.

They pulled into the base camp. Quonset huts, a few log-sided cabins, and a long building labeled as a mess hall all surrounded the small runway crossing through the middle of the camp.

A couple of helipads and a small lot of RVs sat off to the side.

The base was tucked up against foothills, out in the middle of nowhere.

The crisp morning air smelled like new beginnings.

Orion and Logan parked and walked into one of the open plane hangars.

People milled around chatting. A small group off to the side of the room caught his eye. What in the world?—

“Hey, the Trouble Boys and Sanchez are here?” Orion asked Logan.

“Guess so.” Logan walked up and gave a fist bump to Hammer. “What are you guys doing here? Get too hot in Montana?”

“Something like that.” Hammer grinned. “We’ve been here all winter. I thought you were staying with Jude County.”

“Plans changed.” Logan pointed his thumb at Orion. “Thought I’d keep an eye on the rookie here. Thinks he wants to jump out of planes this year.”

Orion clenched his jaw tight.

Funny. Logan didn’t bring up the fact that he was here because of a woman named Jamie Winters with these guys. It was bad enough he thought he needed to watch over Orion. Now more of the Jude County crew were here? Who else had come up from Montana for the summer?

This was supposed to be his fresh start, a chance to work with people that didn’t know him. He was supposed to do this on his own.

“You wanna be a smokejumper?” Kane asked Orion. “Between the locals and the smokejumpers from Montana, I heard there aren’t many spots. We’ll be joining the hotshots.” The look on his face said he wouldn’t have minded trying out but something had stopped him.

“Guess we’ll see who gets them.” Because Orion was going to nab one of the open spots no matter what.

He had to. After all he’d gone through to get his mother on board with this career—which had been no easy feat, since her own father had lost his life smokejumping—he wasn’t going to turn back now.

At least he wasn’t competing with Kane, Hammer, and the others.

A sharp whistle stopped all conversation. Everyone turned to the front of the room, where a man with a clipboard and—wait. Was that Jade Ransom? Another Jude County transplant. Seriously, had the whole crew decided to follow him here?

“I’m Tucker Newman. I’m the commander this season. This is Jade Ransom. She’s jump boss, and she’s running the show if you’re here to train for smokejumping. If that’s you, head out with her. The rest of you stick here with Mitch Bronson, who will be running the hotshot crew.”

Orion and Logan and about fifteen others followed Jade out to a bay garage, doors wide open, letting the cool morning breeze in.

“Orion, good to see you.” JoJo Butcher walked over to them. She ruffled Orion’s hair. “You’re not gonna get your pretty hair messed up jumping out of planes, are ya?”

Like he needed one more person here treating him like a little kid when he was trying to prove he was his own man. He swatted her hand away. “What are you doing here?”

“Jade is from here originally. She said she was moving back and asked if I wanted to come. Sounded like fun, so I decided to join her.”

Great.

Logan gave her a fist bump. “Good to see you.”

Jade faced the group. “I’m not much of one for talking this early, so I hope you came ready to work.

At the end of our training, two of you will be given a spot on my crew.

Most of you have done this before, but for you newbies, this is no walk in the park.

It’s brutal because you are going into one of the most dangerous situations a person can face.

I will push you to your limits because wildland fires don’t care.

Now, drop your stuff, grab one of the packs along this wall, and get ready to run. ”

“Good luck, newbie.” Logan smirked as he grabbed one of the packs.

Orion didn’t need luck though. He was born for this, so the joke was on Logan. As they lined up, Jade checked people off on the clipboard. When she got to the end of the line, she looked around. “Anyone seen Mitchell?”

After a chorus of no s and heads shaking, Jade blew out a short breath and made a mark on the clipboard.

Tough break, Mitchell—whoever that was. But it was one less person vying for a place on the team. Orion smiled.

Just as they were about to start, a dusty Honda Civic with a broken windshield screeched as it swung into the parking lot.

“Wait!” a woman cried as she jumped out of the car.

Jade went out to meet her. What little Orion could see of the newcomer was weirdly familiar. But a baseball cap covered her hair, and the sunglasses she wore and Jade’s shadow obscured her features.

“Must be Mitchell,” Logan said. “Not a great way to make a first impression. Jade hates when people are late.”

All the better for Orion.

Jade turned back to the line. “Let’s go!” she yelled over her shoulder. “Mitchell, you have some catching up to do.”

As Jade stepped away, slanted sunlight hit the woman, brightening her features. Blonde hair streamed behind “Mitchell’s” ball cap.

Orion’s smile dimmed. A force like a fist dropped into his gut.

What in the world was Victoria doing here?

“Dude, come on!” Logan nudged Orion’s shoulder.

The rest of the line was already running.

Orion gave himself a shake and followed Logan.

He glanced back and saw Victoria rushing to heft one of the heavy packs onto her back.

By the time they reached the road, she had caught up to them, though she was huffing pretty hard.

“Important work, huh?” Orion tried to take the bite out of his words, but she’d blown him off last night. Made it sound like she was leaving town or something. And now they had to compete for one of the few smokejumper spots?

Her eyes widened. “Orion?” Victoria’s face was already flushed, and his name sounded more like a wheezy breath as they jogged up the inclined road with their packs. After a pause, she spoke again. “Well,” she said as she huffed, “it is an important job. I didn’t lie.”

“You said you were leaving town.”

“Yeah. We’re gone most of the season.” Each word was punctuated with another breath. “Kinda hard to do relationships that way. This is for the best. For both of us.”

Or it was a lousy excuse. If she really felt that way, why had she kissed him?

But whatever. At least he knew where he stood.

They weren’t dating. They weren’t even friends.

They were rivals competing for the same job. One he was determined to win.

Game on.